Thermal Will Get You Killed 

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When you've spent 8k and finally acquired your night vision setup... only to get smoked by thermal.

It all comes bock to Garand Thumb. Don't have nods? Mega dead. Oh, you have nods but not thermal? Still ultra dead.

100% spot on, even 12 years ago in Afghanistan.... enemy combatant moving through a wadi stashing some stuff in the side of the wadi wall. I couldn't see him with my NODs 250/300 meters. How did I know he was there? One of my machine gunners running fusion nods/thermals had been watching him for several minutes....

I believe that the Predator movie showed us the advantages of thermal over night vision

It was over confidence in thermal imaging that got my friend James Johnston was killed in Afghanistan by some dude flossing a matrix of space blankets and wool plus a SKS. It always will go both ways.

3 grand.....guess im just stayin in the house and takin it off the body that comes in

0:44 most rewatched 3 seconds of this video. Epic hot water bottle idea.

For day to day tasks, night vision is great. But for detection, thermal is king. A couple months back I was walking in trails behind my home at night with my NODs as I do from time to time. Flipped up my nods and brought down my thermal and not more than 20 yards from me was a small herd of deer bedded down in tall grass. I couldn’t see them with my NODs I was shocked how close they were.

As a homesteader, thermals are the best tool ever. No more wandering around with a flashlight trying to find why the dogs are barking. Currently rocking a PVS 14 and an Armasight sidekick helmet mounted thermal along with a suppressed 300 blackout SBR with thermal scope. Weather conditions do play a huge role in the efficiency of thermal. Sometimes you can see great contrast, other times it’s like wandering around in the dark.

It is literally having a superpower. An ability that lets you essentially detect life, power, mobility, past actions, and hidden trails. If you know how to interpret heat signatures and have reasonable powers of deduction that is.

Currently the most underrated guntuber out right now. Producing videos better than channels with millions of subscribers.

In the dark, I see mice between the fence posts. Animals inside trees. Dead rats and foxes that won't be eating my chickens. I've saved many lives of missing animals. I need thermal and can't live without it.

holy shit that opening scene is intense

I have worked with thermal cameras for water restoration and if you walk around in a tile floor with bare feet you can literally track someone like jackal from rainbow 6 seige and tell how fresh the print is

The only downfall I have found with using thermals is fog …. But damn thermals rock for night killing

Randomly engaging unknown stranger is a quick way to have a group hunting you.

While thermal optics are incredible and the way forward, this is a huge overstatement of their power. You aren't a ninja with NOD's on, and you aren't predator with thermals.

“If you’re enemy has thermal and you do not, you will die” -GT Flannel Daddy. The day after that vid I ordered my first thermal scope. I am not regretful in the least. Amazing toy if nothing else.

As a guy who has both and uses them for predator hunting I can tell you without a doubt, thermal has come a long way and having it on your head is a game changer. Night vision is great for moving and navigating, walking around, a back up for thermal, thermal is great for identification and recognition. I don’t even bother trying to use the night vision for anything other than walking or driving. Couple things if you’re thinking about thermal… don’t cheap out. 640 core is damn near a minimum for positive identification…. Yes lesser processor’s still can detect, but if you want certainty without a shadow of a doubt. Get a 640 core.

Excellent knowledge exchange - thank you! Love that you're also a Pennsylvanian! After 13yrs abroad, I was proud to recently repatriate and come back here to PA.

These videos have a lot more info than they appear to. Having over a decade of thermal and NVG experience watching the changes in both platforms has been amazing.

Dude. With cheap thermal, I mean relatively cheap for someone that works for a living, I can see the TRACKS of my dogs around the yard. Like tracker perk, COD style. It’s awesome.

Only issues with thermal is battery life and you can't use laser aiming or see through an optic. Ofcourse this issue is only while it's Helmet mounted. Pvs-14 last 40 hours+ on a single AA. While thermal lasts 3 hours on a 18650 battery. Logistically, that's not very good. But thermal capabilities are amazing. If they can get the energy right, that would be awesome.

Great video. Very well articulated. And your points were spot on. Keep them coming

Night vision is for land navigation first and foremost, surveying second, and combat in dead last. Can't stand seeing all these guys thinking nods make them invincible.

Drones with thermal are cheap like 500$, so you standing with your fancy tripod and rifle and thermal scope is gonna get you clapped by 3 pounds of tannerite with a blasting cap from a nerd 2 miles away…

I love this style of videos ! Your showing what your doing and justifying what you’re saying while down range

Heck yeah, Dude! This is the way I've been leaning as well. I'll have to check your stuff out. I've been wanting to get into thermal scopes lately.

The one thing I remember from the military is that when a parachute parameter flare goes off, it won't matter what night vision you are wearing. There are many methods to blanket a guard post from being spotted by thermal and night vision. They are a good tool but not full proof.

Thermals work by utilizing a difference in temperature. If there's little to no difference or its beyond what the detector and processor can process, it'll show up uniform. Both the head mounted, and weapon mounted versions in this video show little to no terrain contrast. THAT'S what they mean when they say thermals are for spotting and NVGs are for fighting. When you're fighting, you're moving and maneuvering. Thermals can have a very distinct lack of detail and contrast with terrain as it can mostly all be at ambient and most details end up washed out or not showing up. The military prototyped several thermal sights for drivers of armored vehicles but ultimately gave up on it. In testing, drivers ended up hitting more things or getting stuck because they couldn't see the subtle gradients and terrain features that were prevalent under regular light or light amplification. Yes, you can use thermals in that pitch black warehouse and your target will stand out like a sore thumb. The issue though is that all of the other crap inside of that warehouse that's been sitting at ambient temperature for hours will not be visible to you until your or their body heat has heated them up enough to generate contrast to see said objects. And only then, you'd only see fairly close objects as the stuff further away than a handful of feet wouldn't have heated up enough to be rendered. You'd still have to move slowly and carefully to give your body heat enough time to heat things up around you to just above ambient and the material properties and different rates of heating/cooling to take effect to create a gradient and contrast. The primary purpose for NVGs in night fighting has always been for navigation and safety first, spotting and engaging an ill-prepared enemy second. It's also one of the primary reasons people bridge their sights if using a combo system. They move under the NVGs and spot with the thermals. I've tried moving with thermals and it's still a relatively clumsy affair, especially with areas of relatively high ambient temperatures. The other issue with thermals is their digital nature. You're initially limited by framerate and resolution on cheaper models and soon, thermals are going to be hitting a thermal barrier that'll stop the tech dead in its tracks. Thermals need a processor to convert the data taken in by the detector into a visual image. The biggest thing that's put a damper on consumer thermals hasn't been contrast but processing power. It was evident in the scoped version presented in this very video. Every time the rifle fired, the scope dropped frames as the processor had to catch up to render the vastly different image from what it just had less than a second ago. These processors save resources by rendering only what's different or changes between previous frames. When most of what a frame changes, the processor consumes more resources/power in order to render the next frame as well as the next frame after that which goes back to a more normal state. So you end up with a stuttering image and lag which can really mess with a person's situational awareness. To combat this, thermals will need more powerful processors and memory to process more data in as short amount of time as possible. The issue we're running into now is that we're hitting the thermal limit as to what these processors can handle on passive cooling in the size that we're forcing them to be in. If individual use thermals want to get better and more powerful, they're going to be needing active cooling for the electronics. If they stay passive, ironically, those with lower gen thermals will be better able to detect those with newer gen thermals easier as the newer gen stuff will be venting more heat into the environment to cool the electronics off through passive means. This is still then, the crux of the issue with thermals at the levels of a person. The thermals used on the large, aircraft sized drones utilize active cooling of the electronics and detector to skyrocket the temperature differential that they're able to detect. A drone in the sky with thermals would be able to detect the heat signature given off by the thermals you wear from a distance beyond which you could see that drone. Something like a Predator drone has the sensitivity to already do such things and it's been around for over a decade. The reason why you don't see as much movement in Ukraine at night is that both sides of the conflict are using much more powerful thermals in flying platforms that go beyond the visual range of what's available to infantryman. Targeting pods from the 80s and 90s can differentiate man-sized targets from 20-30 miles away easily using their thermal modes. This is one of the reasons why it's always been thought of that SOF becomes far less effective against near-peer adversaries.

Great discussion. I stumbled upon this video when researching thermal optics. You just earned a sub from me!

Good stuff. Thank you for taking the time to make excellent videos!

Fellow PA Patriot here. New subscriber. 100% on board with your 7 Fs

Next phase: FPV drones with thermal and grenade dropper. Save your money. Just avoid war.

I have to commend you! You did a excellent job presenting this extremely informative and valuable information to us in this video!! Job well done, young sir! Thank you for the detailed information!!!

I watched a video of an isis sniper equiped with a thermal scope and a suppressor. They were shooting another rebel post at dawn while people were waking up. Truely scary stuff. He could see everyone and no one knew he was there.

I had PSQ-20s in Afghanistan. Ill tell you i felt like the preditor while I was there at night. You know you have become the monster in the story when you pray for the night.

NVGs for the head, thermal for the rifle

Guns. Night vision. Thermal. ....and ethics and values. I subscribed. Respect from Australia.

It'll forever amuse me that dudes with the best full auto belt feds, best armor money can buy, and hand made guille suits. Those guys can be turned into paint by one fucker with a muzzleloader and a thermal scope

I feel bad for the guy who spilled his beer and fell down in the opening scene. I hope he has a spare beer in his kit.

Once again, great video!!!

showing the different thermal models views/resolutions was exactly what I was looking for!

Been a long time since I’ve watched a video on RU-vid that has been this influential. Real Talk.

CONSOOM. YOU NEED TO CONSOOM OR YOURE NOT READY. CONSOOM.

What Garand Thumb said is that for sneaking,creeping, and stalking, you need NVG because you see terrain features/issues better. For targeting, you need thermal so you can see the targets before you accidentally trip over them.

I absolutely loved this video it was pure content no bs or hype just facts and reality thank 🙏

Just got turned on to y’all, and thanks for the video, super helpful, and I love your mission

You should own both capabilities. The only downside to Thermal is how fast it eats up batteries. Even with a Battery Pack, NV will last longer than Thermals for continuous prolonged usage. You should honestly be walking around with NV but periodically scan with Thermals and also every time you transition terrain.

No doubt . Have a backup though . Microcircuits hate recoil , heat , water , dust , temp changes , barking dogs …

Thanks for making this content and for your mission!

Straight up info ty.

Just remember, EVERY GUN TUBER says your all screwed. AND uncle Joe says that fighter jet will blow your lungs out jack !!!

You need thermal... And I'm selling thermal... WHAT A COINCIDENCE😂😂😂

Hello from Lancaster, Pa!!! Thanks for the video!

Good stuff. Eye opening! Thanks.

First 40 seconds sounds like my wife when I get home from a late night run to the store

This felt like the equivalent of a car dealership trying to tell me i NEED a Ferrari

Great information. I especially loved the massage at the end.

This is literally one of the most amazing videos pertaining to thermal I ever seen

Maybe just me, but I prefer my advertisements with less fear mongering and more merit based points.

Thermal does not see through glass, I was outside one night at my house looking through my thermal. After I quit looking through it I noticed my neighbor was sitting in her car right next to me. She must think I'm crazy.

Incredible video. I sent the link to one of my more elitist friends and he instantly replied, "thermal is for stationary only." Told him he needs to watch the video, still waiting for him to say something. I wish you guys would have a "bundle package" of the entire helmet dual thermal tube setup for sale instead of piecing it together through the website.

dude that opening kill was better than a lot of movies I've seen. epic film making

Just be aware of thermal battery runtime. It’s lower than what manufacturers list. Even if it meets manufacturer specs, many units battery runtime will not last the night

The biggest and most considerable improvement has to be affordability and accessibility.....otherwise you're dumbing thousands on gear and no money to buy ammo to train.

Thank you thank you thank you. I’m rocking a Trijicon IR patrol electro-optic on my scar 20. 🇺🇸 forever 💯

Great video. I was thinking about a PVS-14 monocular first then thermal monocular later after the crying stops, but now thinking about the other way around.

Have a somewhat new 640T autel enterprise thermal drone, it is definitely a game changer, but it and all other thermals have some serious drawbacks when you have mother nature against you. Fog, mirage, rain, snow, etc can play hell on what you are looking at. I often find myself needing to go back to visible just to navigate through it and spotting prey is definitely iffy at best in bad conditions. I've messed with the cotis and some older PAS-13s and they are nice as-well. But like you said, technology is advancing at an exponential rate and the prices are inverse that and I'm all for it. Love seeing 16k usd units 5 years ago be worth half that now.

PVS-14 on articulating J-arm and a rifle mounted thermal, sound like my ideal setup. I imagine trying to walk under just a thermal would suck.

Awesome video! Really really good. I don't know what else to say... Just... Awesome video

Great video! Thanks!

The intro reminded me of the netflix show “You” 😂😂

What a coincidence you sell these products.

I love what you guys are doing 🤘 You just sold a hoodie 😉

Awesome video and channel. Seven efs... Could not agree more.

Saving money now for the L6. $500 a month, I’ll have it in 6 months or so.

A perfect example of why you should have your hot water heater serviced by a professional...

Great video, hits home on many levels, thanks for sharing. Thermal drones haunt my nightmares. We need noob tube EMPs we can thoomp out...

Thanks for the updated information. "You've got a friend..." in MD ;-) (South of the Mason-Dixon line and North of DC).

Is thermal still unable to see through glass (car/home windows, office buildings, etc.)? Last I heard that was the primary advantage to NV over thermal. Urban environments advantage nods, rural advantage thermal. Either way, we should have both. Been looking to add a thermal monocular to my pvs14 that can clip in front of the LPVO. RH25 is the goal.

there are some downsides to thermal as well, its misleading that you didnt mention them. Thermal can not see through glass and water. it also requires NUC every minute or so which can leave you vulnerable. and there is also a delay caused by the time it takes to process the information the sensor receives. There is also a learning curve involved to actually using them properly and making sense of what you are seeing. Considering the price of thermal is 10x what NV costs, it would be best to have NV in addition to thermal since you can obviously afford both if you have thermal.

I like thermal for passive observation. No IR giveaway from NV. Great show. Thank you.

Thermal has come a long way and improving every year at the rate it is improving it won't be long till it is perfectly clear, and in full color! Can't wait till I can afford a set of thermal nods

The thing about thermal is that you can hide your thermal signature significant with just a space blanket from Walmart for like 5 bucks…seen it first hand the afghans used it against us in 2012

The floating jellyfish and the predator agree.

Nice! Great video!

The IR from "Night Vision" will get you killed quicker than thermal. Just sayin'. For the NVG bois.

If I were actually doing night operations, I would spend a few thousand dollars for equipment. But since I just like to shoot guns at a range during the day, I'd rather pay the mortgage and be able to buy groceries.

Finally finished finding what bi o system is like to save for and get then y’all drop some knowledge like this. With footage. Now back to square one.

Great video guys.

Night vision is just a tool, to the person who is experience using them. Anyone can buy Nods and have them but its the person who is using them.

Lots of people have a different opinion of what “affordable “ is

That warm water bottle the dude is holding 0:45 😂looks good

Thank you

First of all it's situational. Reflex optics will not work with thermals, but you can bet most companies have NV modes on their reflex optics. If you are engaging targets located in a building you're better off with both options as many things like windows become opaque to thermals but can be seen through with nightvision. There are also a few other scenarios in which thermals cannot be easily seen through like certain fogs and smokes, any surface that reflects IR but not other wavelengths can become confusing to look at and make identification difficult, and using solely thermals can play with your depth perception. Second of all with the widespread adoption of thermals there are significant advances being made in thermal camouflage, especially in places like Ukraine. This is like the NV-compliance gear that's becoming widespread because NV is now well within the price range of consumers. Lastly NV vs thermal glass at any real magnification is nowhere close in price so weapon mounted options are cheaper for NV. I don't have any evidence off-hand but I'm wiling to bet battery life significantly tips in favor of NV over thermals as well, someone else will have to chime in. Accelerating photons to light up a phosphor is probably a lot less battery intensive than running a thermal camera which is probably more like a mini-computer. Thermals are a great capability but they require some thought. The "thermals are the best and you'll get un-alived by them" thought process is exactly the same process everyone went through when NV hit the market, they thought using it meant you were untouchable; we have practical examples of certain ongoing conflicts where that isn't true. But hey, seeing where your buddy recently took a piss at night is pretty neat.

Dude is really trying to sell thermals lol

That fusion vision reminds me of the night vision filter from Halo 3: ODST. Right down to the outlines mixed with infrared and slight ambient light on a HUD.

You see me with your thermal and say you know me. What’s my favorite ice cream?